Obama’s Budget: Embracing Our Inner ‘No!’

“No” is vastly undervalued. It is a complete sentence. It does not require, although it allows, explanation (“No, because … “). And sometimes “no” has been precisely what the moment required at critical junctures in American history. No, the South cannot secede. No, the Soviets cannot place missiles in Cuba. No, we will not trade away missile defense. “No” has come in very handy.

The Congressional Republicans have been struggling to define themselves as not simply the “no” party. But at this particular moment, with an extraordinarily irresponsible budget in the offing, Republicans, and centrist Democrats as well, might be wise to embrace their inner “no.”

“What we ought not to be doing is passing the budget that they propose we pass in the Senate and House next week that doubles the national debt the next five years and triples it in the next 10,” he said. A massive tax increase, an energy tax of up to $3,100 per person. An effort we believe the nationalized health care, that has nothing to do with the economic dilemma which we confront at the moment.”

McConnell said that he didn’t think any Senate Republicans would vote for the Democrats’ budget proposal. He suggested it’s more likely to see Democrats vote against the budget plan.

“I think they have serious concerns on their side about this budget which is completely disconnected to and unrelated to the current economic crisis in which we’re facing.”

Republicans’ mantra has been that the budget “spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much.” If so, the appropriate answer is “No!” or more precisely, “Are they mad?”

Already in the first 45 days of his administration, the federal government has authorized more debt spending than Ronald Reagan did in eight years in office.

Then last week the Democrats’ own Congressional Budget Office found that the ten-year deficits of the Obama plan will be about $2.3 trillion higher than the $6.97 trillion the White House is projecting. This is the policy of the party that was swept back into power in 2006 and 2008 promising a return to an era of fiscal responsibility. … But the news on the red ink front is much worse than the president or even the CBO’s budget report suggests.

If all of Obama’s “transformational” policy objectives — from global warming taxes to universal health care to doubling the Department of Energy’s budget — are enacted, the debt is likely to increase from about 40 percent of GDP today to close to 100 percent of GDP by 2018. The ten-year debt is likely to be at least $6 trillion higher — or more than one-half trillion of higher deficits a year from now until forever — than the Obama budget projects.

Meet the Press, perhaps for the first time in months, had an interesting and educational exchange on the budget with John McCain as the guest:

MR. GREGORY: Let’s move on to the budget and the deficit picture that you referenced just a moment ago. The Washington Examiner reported this this week: “Last week in a little-noticed conference call featuring Budget Director Peter Orszag. … [Orszag was asked:] Are those deficits sustainable? Relenting, Orszag said such deficits, in the range of 5 percent of the gross domestic product, “would lead to rising debt-to-GDP ratios in a manner that would ultimately not be sustainable.” The simple version of that is: “If the Congressional Budget Office projections are correct, we’re headed for hell in a handbasket.” How concerned are you that, with the goals the administration has for spending on major programs, they’re going to have to raise taxes?

SEN. McCAIN: Well, that’s always the inevitable result of increasing spending and increasing the size of government. They’ve earmarked $634 billion for cap and trade; by the way, a betrayal of everything I’ve ever believed in about cap and trade, which I’m a supporter of. They, they have earmarked or budgeted for hundreds of billions of dollars in increases in spending in health care to bring down the cost of health care. So my great worry, my great worry is the trillions. The $10 trillion we already owe, the $1 trillion or $2 trillion that the Chinese now own. The Chinese comments about a world currency and their complaints about our fiscal policies concern me. The — you know, there’s only one thing worse than, than the Chinese owning a lot of American debt, and that is Chinese stop buying American debt.

MR. GREGORY: Is that a real fear in your mind?

SEN. McCAIN: Oh, I think it’s of a concern. I don’t think in the short term. But we’ve got to get our fiscal house in order. We were talking about the party of saying no. Our proposal on the stimulus package was once this country reaches a two percent increase in GDP, inflation adjusted, then we’d be on an automatic spending reduction path. We’ve got to get the spending under control. And the old line about deficits as far as the eye can see is, is now so large that it staggers the imagination. And it can’t continue. No country can continue to do this.

And that is the nub of the matter. If the president’s pie-in-the-sky budget projections are off, if the Congress is only putting a “down payment” on health care, and if the stimulus spending is in essence irreversible (i.e., future efforts to return to pre-2009 spending levels will be vilified as heartless attacks on essential programs) then we are indeed headed for fiscal hell in a handbasket. That’s the conclusion of not just John McCain and the CBO, but intellectually honest Democrats like Alice Rivlin.

So the Republicans have every right and certainly the responsibility to say “no.” The real question is: Why anyone would say “yes” to a budget this frighteningly irresponsible?

58 Comments, 58 Threads

1.
Delia

“NO!” means “HALT” or “STOP” too. Saying, “NO” is about the strongest, bravest thing anyone can say in both the House and Senate. It’s high time a few people in power grew a set and learned the POWER of ‘NO’.

The Republican leadership needs to be more courageous. It is too frightened of the MSM. Our elected GOP officials are overly concerned with the probability that they will be charged with negativism. The high likelihood, however, is that they will quickly earn the respect of the American public.

Jennifer: I live in ‘fly over” country, and out here I sense the early signs of our second revolution. A good revolution every two hundred years or so will have a great cleansing effect on our public “servants”. Majorities of people in both of our national political parties don’t want amnesty for illegal aliens, (and I emphasize the word illegal, not undocumented), but the politicians in Washington of both parties are trying to shove illegals down our throats. Majorities of people in both parties don’t want to bankrupt this country with mountains of debt, but the party that controls the White House and Congress arrogantly ignores us. I have a feeling that the partially mummified Speaker of the House of Representatives will be in the minority party after the mid-term elections in 2010. In the meantime citizens, protect your Second Amendment rights. The clown in the White House and some clowns on the Supreme Court don’t believe in the Constitution. For crying out loud, the man leading our country was born in Kenya.

More and more, I’m running into strangers who are voicing their deep concerns for the country and what they correctly perceive as irresponsible and reckless “leadership” from Washington. The Democrats in power are doing their best to ruin our economy and destroy capitalism through unnecessary regulations and class warfare. This is not the job that we send our representatives to do.
What we do expect is mature and measured leadership that respects American principles. Unfortunately, what we’re witnessing is anything but.
Our officeholders have a duty to be responsive to the people, and when they don’t, we have a duty to say no.

No to higher taxes.
No to massive spending.
No to cap-and-trade.
No to the assault on free market capitalism.
No to the expansion of government intrusion in our lives.

And when those whom we send to office turn a deaf ear to our wishes, we’ll say “No” to another term.
Just watch.

When it comes to spending taxpayer dollars, Democrats are the girls of easy virtue. You are asking the teenaged Republican boys to say “No”.

Except the boys have been emasculated, marginalized, and heaped with scorn. Peer pressured into lapdog obedience. Halting, hesitant…unsure of how to behave, they want to puff up their chests and pretend to be in control. But they are outwitted and overmatched.

The experiment and the experience will be over too quickly …taking one’s time is not part of this heated rush. In the end, the taxpayers will sadly shake their heads and ask “Is that all there is?” and “I wish we would have at least been kissed first.”

Back at the time of the American Revolution, a French Royalist predicted that democracy would last only until the people discovered that they could vote themselves money from the public treasury–at which point it would collapse and be replaced by a dictatorship. I’m beginning to wonder: was he right?

How in the hell do you say NO when the US Supreme Court made such shenanigans perfectly constitutional long ago, and that most of the economy and society at large is hooked on receiving special gifts from government?

“Jennifer: I live in ‘fly over” country, and out here I sense the early signs of our second revolution.”

Bill, it isn’t limited to flyover country, I suspect. As a tangential reference, I was at a gun show here in Orange county, California and the lines to GET IN were 30-45 minutes. All “standard” ammunition was sold out within two hours of the show’s opening (and this is a two-day event). There were open and frank conversations about peoples’ frustratioin with the current administration and the fecklessness of our government.

I had only gone to these a few times but do not remember EVER having to wait to get in. A person in line who attends regularly, said that the attendances have been growing since last December. I was also treated to the fact that there were about 2,000 guns sold per day in this state.

Also, and more to the point, it is hard to go anywhere and not have a political conversation spring up where the parties express their distrust and intense dislike of Obama and the current government.

“No” the stimulus package was not a stimulus package, it was a payoff to those who voted BHO into office. “No” the trickle-down to Republicans was not enough pork, but it was enough to keep them from being hacked in the media or in office like Wagoner of GM.

The Cloward-Piven strategy for overturning a functioning government! Why isn’t the MSM calling a spade, a spade? What is so difficult to understand? These deficits will bankrupt the United States,making it impotent on the world stage and unable to handle its internal affairs ever again. It is a recipe for world revolution. Of course the amount of suffering that will be caused will be far more than the current “inequities.” Please educate yourselves on the Cloward-Piven strategy. (http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_the_strategy.html)

This Congress and Administration are out of control. Barring a miracle, our country is on a trajectory to enter the dark ages for decades. What can stop it? I fear nothing. We crossed a threshold November 2009 when the non-producers and ignoramuses became a majority.

I personally cannot WAIT for the Tax Day Tea Party April 15th. These assclowns need to hear it loud and clear that the people are coming to take away their jobs in 2010. This debacle is the orchestration of a relatively small group of people who think they are smarter than everyone else (elitists) pushing the populist buttons of a large group of people (stupid, ignorant, uninformed, American-Idol watching morons and indoctrinated young people) who pushed Obama into the White House.

I’m another fly-over-state citizen and people out here are ANGRY!! Seriously angry. If someone would step out of the woodwork to organize all of this emotion, I can only imagine the outcome. I think we’re starting to wake up and realize that the uneducated, uninformed masses have elected someone steering the US into a ditch even quicker than ever thought possible. The good thing is that the Obama voters have all crawled back into their caves (anyone else notice his dropping poll numbers?). Soon they’ll all be back on their park benches, alleys, homeless shelters, ACORN rallies and college dorms and then we can TAKE THIS COUNTRY BACK!

First of all, how is anything McCain says relevent anymore? He was totally erratic and lost when trying to address the economic crisis back in October, and he lost the election partly as a result. Why should he have any credibility on the issue now?

Secondly, you can all whine “No!” like a party full of blathering babies as much as you please, but as long as you fail to offer a comprehensive alternative, no one will take you seriously.

Thirdly, “No!” only works when you have the votes to back it up. And you ain’t got the votes.

#15 Jerry – I have seen the term “Cloward-Piven Strategy” here and there, and just finally looked it up. As soon as I saw that Cloward and Piven quoted Saul Alinsky in their essay, a great big “DUH!” went off in my brain.

If I understood what I just read, this means that in order to usher in a complete and long-term-welfare/socialist state, the powers that be must first destroy the existing short-term-welfare/capitalist state. Hope I got that right.

The fact that this “strategy” was born of the 1965 Watts riots is significant in the extreme, given our current leader’s animosity toward those whose bloodlines fill up one-half of his body.

I had ascribed other motives to the current madness (watch Evan Sayet on youtube), but now I see that the liberal motives described by Evan are part of the Cloward-Piven strategy, although I think the CPS injects a certain evil into the whole mix.

For Congress is at present possessed of the direction of the national force, and most other national powers, and in addition to them are to be vested with all the powers of the individual states, unrestrained by any declarations of right. If these things are for the security of our constitutional liberty, I trust we shall soon see an attempt to prove that the government by an army will be more friendly to liberty than a system founded in consent, and that five states will make a majority of thirteen. The powers of controlling elections, of creating exclusive companies in trade, of internal legislation and taxations ought, upon no account, to be surrendered.

I know it is a common complaint, that Congress want more power. But where is the limited government that does not want it? Ambition is in a governour what money is to a misar-he can never accumulate enough. But it is as true in politicks as in morals, he that is unfaithful in little, will be unfaithful also in much. He who will not exercise the powers he has, will never property use more extensive powers.

Strange how quickly we want to tag a group of people with a label and dismiss them, so as to not examine their works and arguments. Thus it was that the ‘Anti-Federalists’ were so categorized, but they represented a deep cross-section of opinions and knowledge. Some of the problems brought up by them were but minor ones that could have easily been addressed with a minor change on apportionment or lenght of term to be served. Of course they would also, as individuals, bring up flaws that would lead to conflict within the Nation… many were not against a Federal form of government and had pointed criticism that the ‘Federalists’ were not carrying through on the federal schema and leaving faults, loopholes and problems that would be exploited over time.

When we, as a society, allowed these criticisms to be shelved, unlooked at and scorned, we shelved a vital discussion of liberty, freedom and the structure and role of government in a republic and nation of free people. By addressing human nature and the nature of government, and looking at the structure of the new government, these voices brought forward problems as seen in prior and existing republics. For all the lovely work of Madison, Hamilton, Jay and many others, they often could not address the particulars being brought up, save to invest trust in society to ensure that such ills would be recognized. Of course that was brought up as a problem, too… no form of government is immune to the abuse of society to use it to ill ends.

That said the stumbling blocks to those seeking power could have been more robust, federalism strengthened and make it no easy job to invest more power in government, and remove it from the people. No the French would go for the sweeping statement, it takes Americans to point out each and every detail at length and explain it. We ignored those, our fellow countrymen, at our peril when they pointed out such faults. Now we can be horrified to read their expectations and see them come about, as they were very good judges of human nature and society and were willing to learn from the past.

Pretending that health care, education and energy policy are not critical to the future economy of the USA is what got us into this mess. The GOP has been allowed to set the agenda for decades, and did nothing to balance the budget when holding the levers of power. Health care costs have gone up, along with the numbers of uninsured, energy policy has been an unmitigated tragedy, and public education policy has been ignored in favor of privatization.

The plain fact is that we must do something about health care costs, education and energy, or there truly is no hope of escaping a downward spiral. Simply saying “NO” is not going to help the USA move forward.

If the GOP can’t even propose a sensible alternative (and all evidence to date indicates this to be true), there is little hope for Republicans. Obama has proposed policies designed to provide long-term stability and growth, leading to prosperity for America. If the GOP can only say “NO”, then that is the same thing they will hear from voters. When it comes to electing GOP lawmakers – the people will just say “NO”.

Conservative radio has finally realized the anger of the middle-class, conservative tax-payer and is starting to cover the events. When EVER in the history of the US has this group protested anything en masse? Never! Now we have hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of patriots taking place in tea parties in over 300 US cities on April 15th. And we are angry and demand change! Conservative change!

I am helping organize the Dallas Tax Day Tea Party. Sean Hannity is going to do a live shot from our event. Glenn Beck is talking up the tea parties every day. Have we heard from a single elected official? Not one! Although, we have decided internally that we will not let politicians speak. Elected politicians (I won’t call them leaders) will keep their head in the sand until their day of reckoning…primary election day for 2010. Remember the 3R’s..Rid Republicans of RINOs!!

Steve P….. Why are you getting so shrill? You sound like you’re almost hysterical! We forgive you for voting in Carter II. Now just help us stop him from destroying the country and you can save some dignity.

David S… I hate to burst your high-brow bubble (again) but Obama’s health care plan entails throwing money down another rat hole. If that’s a plan to you, then no wonder you’ve loved TARP I and TARP II and bailing out the automakers and the banks and AIG. You do realize that hearing the Treasury revving up the money printing machines is NOT a good thing right? Ever stop to wonder why President Giggles is cramming this all into a short period of time? Could it be because he knows if people are given a chance to actually READ any of his proposals they will throw the bum out? Look at the backlash for the rest of his agenda. People are marching in the streets (I’m sure you didn’t know that since you get all of your “information” from the Huffington Report). Hell, at this point we could all start printing out money on our own computers. It would have just about as much value as a real dollar will when President Giggles is done with the economy. TRUTH.

AThinkingPerson:“Look at the backlash for the rest of his agenda. People are marching in the streets (I’m sure you didn’t know that since you get all of your “information” from the Huffington Report). Hell, at this point we could all start printing out money on our own computers. It would have just about as much value as a real dollar will when President Giggles is done with the economy. TRUTH.”

By “marching in the streets,” I assume you’re referring to the cute, ineffectual little tea parties you wingnuts are having. I hear that sometimes you even get a hundred people at those things. Looks like a certain political party has been in power so long that it’s forgotten how to organize a proper protest rally. Maybe you should hire some liberals to show you how its done.

Typical. The GOP say “no” but doesn’t offer any alternatives. They announce a budget with no numbers. Fine. Keep up the good work GOP. When the next election cycle comes around don’t be suprised if a lot of people vote “no” to GOP.

Pat J and Steve P….I finally get how you liberals can live with yourselves!!! I should really get a prize for this!

Here, I’ll show you how…

Steve P…. “Our cute little tea parties…” and “hire some liberals to show you how it’s done…” Oh you silly thing you. You’re referring to ACORN right? Busing in homeless to pump up the numbers? Scouring dark alleys and park benches? Sorry, bub. Discount this if you want to but but after reading your desperate tone, you and I both know the tea party movement has taken on a life of it’s own. FIVE THOUSAND people are expected at the Houston event alone! Liberal lesson here? Avoid the truth at ALL COSTS!

Pat J…. “They announce a budget with no numbers.” Yep. You said that. Own it. Now, please, since you’re using the next favorite Liberal lesson of SMOKE and MIRRORS… do tell how liberals (since apparently you seem to believe they are sticklers for detail) voted for a budget and a bank buyout that THEY DIDN’T EVEN READ. Oh, and you might add a few lines about how Obama is now following Bush’s foreign policy format! (That should be interesting to see how you get around that.)

Come on now. Show us all how you two tap dance around reality. (Getting my popcorn and awaiting the ensuing hilarity….)

Steve P; David S. Simple question! Have either one of you ever “borrowed” your way out of debt, and into prosperity? I’ll answer it for you…No, you haven’t! It makes absolutely no sense on a personal level, and as history proves, is disasterous on a national level. What is it about “if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it” that you can’t comprehend?

Health Care? Every single person in this country (legal, or otherwise) already has access to health care, whether they can afford to pay for it or not. Taxpayer funded county facilities see to that! Is it the best care in the country? No, but basic needs are there for everyone. If you want to use preferred doctors, feel free to pay for it!

Education? Public education is, and has been, a generational joke. Pouring money into that yawning abyss continues to be generally unproductive. Johnny won’t learn to read unless Johnny is motivated to learn! Johnny’s teachers are more inclined to pass him into the next grade, regardless! Maybe reconfiguring the educational format is where funding needs to be placed. The way the public school system works now is ineffective, and throwing more and more money at it, in it’s present form, is counter-productive!

Energy! I’m not interested in your silly little battery powered “green cars”! Unless and/or until there is a viable alternative to my internal combustion engine, and a way to form plastics, tires, roads, and the tens of thousands of other petroleum based products that are used on a daily basis around the world, you and Al Gore can…shove it!

Wait until your leader’s bloated spending extravaganza shows up at your door, in the form of the tax man. We’ll see if your snarky, self righteous attitude’s are still the flavor of the day!
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Liberalism
lib·er·al·ism /ˈlɪbərəˌlɪzəm, ˈlɪbrə-/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation [lib-er-uh-liz-uhm, lib-ruh-]
–noun
1. The quality or state of being liberal, as in behavior or attitude.
2. A profound mental disorder of unknown etiology, characterized by a marked disassociation from objective reality. Its victims display an inability to grasp facts or understand even the most basic rational concepts. It is thought to be a disease of arrested intellectual development as many of Liberalisms victims display a childlike immaturity. Analytic and rational thought are impossible. Magical thinking and almost infantile fantasies based on unfulfilled emotional needs are substituted for adult reasoning.
Origin theories:
Liberalism is theorized by some to be the result of a as yet unknown virus, as it appears to spread through a population in geometric fashion. Others say that childhood exposure to neurotoxic poisons in the environment may be responsible. Evidence presented for this is that the more time a child (or adult) spends in government funded public education buildings the more likely it is they will contract liberalism and the more profound is the infection and subsequent severe cerebral atrophy. To date no chemical or substance has yet been isolated from these buildings that might cause the disease.
There is no known vaccine or cure, but it has been noted that individuals exposed to the realities that directly contradict their delusions sometimes show improvement. The longer their exposure to reality, the greater the curative effect seems to be.
A number scientific studies indicate that Liberalism has become so widespread that Western civilization may become extinct in its present form unless a cure can be found.
[Origin: 1810–20; liberal + -ism]
—Related forms
lib·er·al·ist, noun, adjective
lib·er·al·is·tic, adjective

No ! But with a solution: the first small step at erasing our $60 trillion national debt (including promised payments to future SS and Medicare recipients) would logically be a balanced budget just for one year. Now we’ll see who says “no”.

The Conservatives do have ideas: outlaw abortion (it’s killing upwards of 1/4 of the next generation; that’s suicidal for society), pass the Fair Tax (get the IRS out of our hair, and bring the cost of government into the spotlight so that people can’t avoid seeing it and paying it), close the boarders and defend the rights of the people.

Pat J and Steve…..Why does it always come down to name calling with you two? Why can you never have a civil discourse? Are things getting that desperate under the liberal rock that you’ve sunk to those depths? You two should own up to what you’ve elected instead of bashing those of us who are trying to keep America free. Why is freedom so alarming to you both? Never understand how “liberals” can be so small-minded.

Come on now. Any more silly names on your official “Liberals say the most dumb-assed things” List?

You elected President Giggles. Now own up to it. That’s all we ask. The next time someone you know loses his/her job. Apologize. That’s all. The next time one of your aging relatives skips a doctor’s appointment because their retirement is gone. Apologize. That’s all.

David S… Since it’s become apparent that you don’t stay up-to-date on current information and are still getting your facts from Obama’s election website, please look at critics of his health care rathole, er, I mean plan….

McCain’s “plan” would leave more than 25 million working americans without health coverage, and would not help to contain the ballooning costs of health care. Why would this be preferable to universal coverage and reducing the cost of care?

As usual, the GOP proposal fails to identify the problem, and proposes a solution that is therefore unhelpful. Here’s a hint – the tax treatment of health coverage is not the problem.

Pat J… There’s a difference. I’m referencing our President (Giggles). You aim for fellow posters. Big difference. I’m not the one taking money out of your 401k or sending your kids’ futures down the river. So President Giggles, President Teleprompter, all work but Pat J the moonbat, bleeding heart, uninformed liberal wingnut would be rude. See the difference?

David S…. Again, YOU’VE FAILED to tell me what Obama’s health care plan is that doesn’t involve sending money down a rathole. You always skip over his plans and go back to the GOP’s plan. Did you forget that it’s Obama’s plan that will be rammed through since he’s in charge now and has a democratic congress in place? It’s funny how you always conveniently forget that fact. When asked or questioned about Obama your answers always include GOP or Bush. Wonder why? You voted for him. Shouldn’t you be wanting to tout HIS plans or is just getting to be impossible?

Try taking a look at the context here. I’m commenting on an article that proposes that the GOP should simply say “No!”, rather than propose alternatives. You pointed me to an “alternative” that fails to address the problems that Obama’s plan tackles.

I’m quite happy with the Obama plan at this point for the following reasons:

1 – Barack Obama will make health insurance affordable and accessible to all:

The Obama-Biden plan provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, builds on the existing healthcare system, and uses existing providers, doctors and plans to implement the plan.

2 – Obama will lower health care costs:

The Obama plan will lower health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination.

3 – Promote public health:

Obama and Biden will require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings, and will increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

The McCain alternative plan does not make healthcare affordable or accessible to all, does not propose meaningful reforms to reduce costs, and does not focus on the importance of preventive services to overall cost reductions and healthcare improvement. The choice is clear.

Pat J… There’s a difference. I’m referencing our President (Giggles). You aim for fellow posters. Big difference. I’m not the one taking money out of your 401k or sending your kids’ futures down the river. So President Giggles, President Teleprompter, all work but Pat J the moonbat, bleeding heart, uninformed liberal wingnut would be rude. See the difference?
——————–
Oh. So now you’re calling me names. Isn’t that like calling the kettle black?

Pat J….. If you’d bother to read a post before commenting in your usual way, you’d see I said that to call you a “moonbat, bleeding heart, uninformed liberal wingnut” would be rude so I wouldn’t do that. But again, you can lead a liberal to information but you can’t make him/her read it.

David S… “The choice is clear.” What choice? There is no unilateral discussion on the topic. Obama owns this administration and all of it’s warts. Remember his Democratic congress and his backbone (Nancy Pelosi)? You can defend all you want but if it resembles any Obama policies instituted thus far…it’s more money down the RATHOLE. Own it and quit pretending their was ever a “choice”.

Way to misunderstand virtually every part of a large and complex issue. Rest assured abortion, the IRS, and border patrolling has absolutely nothing to do with our economic downfall. But, it does reveal the grade-schooler level at which you perceive the world.

1 – Barack Obama will make health insurance affordable and accessible to all:

The Obama-Biden plan provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, builds on the existing healthcare system, and uses existing providers, doctors and plans to implement the plan.

2 – Obama will lower health care costs:

The Obama plan will lower health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination.

3 – Promote public health:

Obama and Biden will require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings, and will increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

The GOP outline:

Provides Universal Access to Health Care and Secures Entitlements:
Instead of accelerating the demise of our nation’s large entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, and creating new unsustainable entitlements, Republicans seek to provide universal access to affordable health care and to address our entitlements’ trillion dollar unfunded liabilities with common sense reforms that ensure our children and grandchildren can secure future benefits.

Hmmm… With few exceptions, it looks to me as though both plans are about the same. Furthermore, it looks to me like both plans are stupid. Blah blah blah.

One of the main drivers of health care costs is the outrageous settlements for real or perceived malfeasance by medical practitioners. The result is that they have very high insurance premiums which are passed along to us in the amounts charged for services rendered. George Bush wanted caps placed on awards to reduce this effect, but the congress wouldn’t go along.